Coal spill briefly turns Canadian river black

NIGHTHAWK — The state Department of Ecology and the Okanogan County Department of Emergency Management tested water samples from the Similkameen River last week to determine if a coal spill in Canada will have any impact on local waters.

Results from the study were expected to be released Tuesday, Ecology spokeswoman Brook Beeler said.

“We don’t believe there’s going to be any major impact,” she said.

“If something came back and it was glaring,” an announcement would have been made sooner, she said.

Beeler said 6,000 gallons of water containing coal dust from the Coalmont Energy mine near Princeton, B.C. spilled over the banks of a containment pond and into the Tulameen River on Aug. 24, temporarily turning the river black.